Hunter Valley bus driver to speak in court for first time after horror crash

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Hunter Valley bus driver to speak in court for first time after horror ******

A bus driver behind the wheel when a wedding bus crashed, ******** 10 people and injuring 25 more in NSW’s popular Hunter Valley, is expected to give evidence in court for the first time.

Brett Button, 59, will appear before Newcastle District Court on Wednesday having pleaded guilty to 19 charges, including dangerous driving occasioning ****** and grievous bodily harm.

Button was driving guests from a wedding reception at the Wandin Valley Estate, two hours north of Sydney, back to Singleton on June 11, 2023 when the bus flipped at a roundabout at Greta.

Button sat stoically for two days, avoiding eye contact according to victims and families, 40 of whom provided victim impact statements to the court during a marathon sentence hearing.

Camera IconHunter Valley bus driver Brett Button to speak in court for first time after horror ******. NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw Credit: NCA NewsWire

With his sentence expected to be handed down on Judge Roy Ellis on Wednesday, Button is due to take the stand that same morning for the first time while he waits in custody on remand.

Over two days, the court has heard testimonials from survivors and the families of victims who detailed the life-changing impact of the ******, the state – and Australia’s – worst ever.

Among them was Graham McBride, whose wife Nadene and daughter Kyah were ******* in the ******. He detailed in a heartfelt speech how his family tree had been savagely “cut down”.

Others lashed out in anger at the bus driver, like Nick Dinakis, partner of victim Darcy Bulman, who told Button he had “******* her” and taken away “her chance to be a mother”.

Survivors of the ****** detailed the lifelong impacts of the incidence, including chronic ailments. One woman said she now suffered a permanent head tilt and could not eat properly.

Another survivor described the “carnage” of the aftermath of the ******, describing Button’s vehicle that day as a “bus of *****” and blasting the “intergenerational trauma” he had caused.

Victims of Hunter Valley bus ******

In his opening address, Judge Ellis said the sentencing proceedings were “pretty well unprecedented as never before have so many people been ******* in a motor vehicle incident”.

It comes more than a year after the horror ****** that shook the Hunter Valley and Singleton communities.

Andrew Scott, 35, and wife Lynan Scott, 33, Nadene McBride, 52, daughter Kyah McBride, 22, and her partner, Kane Symons, 21, Darcy Bulman, 30, Rebecca Mullen, 26, Zachary Bray, 29, Tori Cowburn, 29, and Angus Craig, 28, were ******* in the ******.

The incident quickly became one of the state’s – and Australia’s – worst ever fatal road incidents, with Button at one point facing a whopping 89 charges, including 10 counts of manslaughter.

Ultimately, prosecutors agreed to a plea deal that resulted in the manslaughter charges being dropped to the anger of families. Button is in custody on remand before sentencing.

More to come.

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